Archive for June, 2011

Every day we share a single photo from our Flickr Pool shot by one of our faithful and talented readers (that’s you!)

If I were to make an absurd, completely unfounded and reductionist comment here in this post, I would state that there are two kinds of people in this city: people who think that raccoons are evil, unscrupulous thieves; and those that think they are absolutely adorable and oh-so-cuddly – if only in a hypothetical way. I (somewhat predictably) tend to fall in the latter category myself, as you probably could have guessed if you’ve been following along at home.

I don’t know for sure which of these two categories Thomas Powell might fall into, but he at least found an interesting enough subject in a pair of curious raccoons to take a few photographs recently. This means that Thomas actually gets two photos in the Daily Flickr Pickr today, as this is how they appear on Flickr. These guys here are really curious – unfazed by the first flash, they hung around long enough for a more intimate portrait. And bonus points for taking these photos with film, thus having to wait that agonizing wait until you can pick up your negatives to see if the shots worked or not!

Here is (here are?) Stanley Racoons.

Gary

The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city’s electronic and hip hop scene really is. If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

Monday nights are usually a time when our weekend is over, we are back at work and the only event on the horizon is now days away. Thanks to east van residents Paul Gibson-Tigh and Chad Iverson one monday a month has become one of the best hip hop nights in Vancouver. The night isn’t like most club events because on this night you provide the entertainment. The event of course, hosted by Fortune Soundclub, is Hip Hop Karaoke Vancouver. Started in December of 2010, following in the footsteps of the Toronto and New York equivalents, Paul and Chad hooked up with the Fortune owners, DJ Seko from The Freshest Crew and DJ Flipout to create a night that has hip hop fans of all types paying homage to their favourite artists and songs. I met up with Paul and Chad to discuss their success.

Photo: Joel Levy

Why has hip hop karaoke become such a huge success?

I feel like regular karaoke is always so cheesy and kind of a joke. Something you do for a laugh with friends. Hip hop karaoke is different. People get up and they rep hard. They rep for the artists they love and grew up with.

Jumping into the hip hop scene must have been daunting. What kind of things have happened that have made your entrance feel accepted by the community?

We have had a lot of people roll through from the hip hop scene whether it be artists or DJs. 9th Wonder did a show as part of HHK once. He was bored in Van and was asking on twitter if anything was going on and some random sent him to us. He asked us if he could spin at HHK and we were like “WHAT?!” So he did a free set which was really amazing. DJ Cash Money came out, Matt Brevner, SonReal, Red1, Snak The Ripper and Kyprios have all come out to be a part of the night. The regulars seem to take the show though. The one you don’t expect to kill it who ends up making jaw drops. It is expected from the professionals but when a regular fan does it it is something else. They get followers even who get to know them and expect them to rock the show.

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VANCOUVER DAZE showcases and highlights the social life and scene of our beautiful city, covering all the misadventures and shenanigans at various cultural events, mixers, parties, meetups, and local happenings. We fiercely promote all the fun times the city has to offer along with the interesting people behind them. Follow more of my work/coverage over at RICKCHUNG.COM and on Twitter at @RICKCHUNG. You can pitch me HERE.

Volume 22: Mamak Cafe eat and tweetup organized by Dennis Pang in Gastown on June 21, 2011. Hashtag: #MamakAttack. Some photos taken by Tomasz Wagner. More photos available on Flickr.

Dennis organized a quick, casual tweetup merging his various regular dine out groups amassing nearly twenty people all from Twitter.

The food was really good. Many thought it was too spicy, but I dug it. It made for fun, group dining in an interesting locale.
…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Skateboard culture is deeply rooted in this fine city of ours. Not only does Metro Vancouver produce some of the world’s finest wood-wheelers, it’s also a major migratory destination for skaters from all over Canada. The Weekly Ledge(r) exists to update you on skate-related news and happenings in our town. Know the ledge, it’s not just used for sitting…

As I pointed out in this public service announcement, there was a grip of events throughout the day on Tuesday, June 21st that celebrated Go Skateboarding Day, which is always a big deal in Vancouver. The above video (filmed by Brian Caissie for Push.ca) summarizes the main critical-mass-like event (as do these photos), and this here vid features Dan “Alien” Nelson and Deer Man Of Dark Woods handling GSD in Calgary as part of the Van Wilder Tour. Queensborough in New West got in on the action as well. Down in Cali, Jordan Hoffart took in GSD by skating Quiksilver’s Door 33.

In other news, Take Five Trading in Vancouver announced its HUF Canada team, which includes some sweet locals. Skull Skates/PD’s Hot Shop has opened a new location at 3734 West 10th (at Alma), and its near-18-year location on West 4th will temporarily remain open as well – details here. Mike Campbell got some clips, which might very well be one of the last edits from Plaza 1.0, since renovations/additions are now complete and it’s pretty much a new park. Kyutae Kim knows how to work a video camera and skate in front of it well, which landed him a spot (complete with a welcome video) on the Coastal Riders shop roster. To finish #43, Ian Twa and Robbie Pellack paid a visit to SkateNewSpot.com’s Ben Oleynik in NYC, and came back with some footy:

If you saw my post earlier this week with Sam Roberts facts compiled by Sirius for their Face The Music series/contest, you know that I promised you The Trews facts. Well here they are!
I, for one, did not know that Trews means Trousers in Scotland!

Check out what The Trews are about (click to see the image full size/with links) and then you should definitely go play the Face The Music game again…as we’ve dropped down to 20th!

Welcome to The Playground, a place for Vancouver families. Every week I post a roundup of upcoming family-friendly events and activities. I’m always on the lookout for fun stuff to do, so if there’s something happening that you think I should know about, contact me.

Artwork by Evan, age 4.

In The Playground for the week of June 22-28: a Harry Potter Movie Marathon, Dancers of Damelahamid, MEC Bikefest Vancouver, the National Aboriginal Awareness Celebration and Carnaval del Sol 2011.

The final movie in the Harry Potter series is coming soon and to mark the occasion the Vancouver Public Library is hosting a multi-day marathon. It’s free and kicks off tonight with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. 7:30-9:30PM, Alice MacKay Room, Lower Level, Central Library.

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A little while back Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club dropped into Vancouver thereby presenting me with an opportunity to interview them! Doot doola doot doo… doot doo!

Nardwuar vs. Two Door Cinema Club

Stay tuned for another interview next week and if you can’t wait then head over to NARDWUAR.COM, FACEBOOK.COM/NARDWUAR or TWITTER.COM/NARDWUAR!

Hey! I’m back with Part 3 of my first Car2Go adventure… read Part 1 and Part 2.

So, once I got the car (a BLOCK from my house), I pulled out my member card and put it up against the reader. Which told me the car was available and the doors unlocked! :)

Oh hello free Bean Around The World gift card! Thanks Car2Go!

Next you enter your personal PIN number, take the key out and …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>